


A Simple Lunch

by Titti



Category: iZombie (TV)
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-25
Updated: 2015-05-25
Packaged: 2018-04-01 06:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,620
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4009222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Titti/pseuds/Titti
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Clive finds out about Liv, zombies and a whole new world</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Simple Lunch

**Author's Note:**

> References to everything up to Mr. Beserk.

It started out as a simple lunch. A way to forget about Lowell and Blaine. A way to stop worrying about Major and the Candy Man. A way to ignore the commingling between the Seattle PD and Blaine. The kid was the victim of a traffic accident, the driver had stopped to help, no alcohol or drugs involved. Simple. Just a way to satisfy my hunger. 

I should have known better.

The thing about kids is that they are highly unpredictable and illogical. They can smell dinner cooking, but they'll eat candies until they get sick, only to be hungry a few hours later. They could do their homework quickly and then have the rest of the day to play, but instead they will spend the day complaining about their homework. And when nothing goes their way, they will throw a tantrum. 

It turns out that immature prefrontal cortexes lead a perfectly civilized zombie to go in full zombie mode for no reason at all. We were just talking. Okay, maybe not just talking. Clive came to morgue after his shift to discuss what to do with Major. It was innocent enough until he made the mistake of saying: "You can't let him go on like this. You need to do something-"

I didn't hear the rest. My brain was telling me that I was being blamed for no reason. I had nothing wrong. Clive was accusing me - _me_ \- when I'd done everything to protect Major. And just like that a switch went on and I wanted to kill Clive - I probably would have, especially after Clive pointed the gun in my direction - if Ravi hadn't been there, always calm and collected, and maybe a little suicidal, if truth be told.

"Liv, you need to calm down. It's not you." I'm not sure what he planned to do with the scalpel in his hand. I would have hurt him long before he could reach me, but then he cut into another body and literally tossed the brain my way.

Full zombie or not, the child's brain reacted, too interested in food to care about Clive and whatever he might have said. Unfortunately for me, Clive was not as easily distracted, and that's how after our shifts, we all found ourselves sitting in my living room. Or Ravi and Clive are sitting, while I keep pacing.

"Peyton-" Ravi starts.

"She's on her way to work already. She's preparing for a big case," I answer. "Anyone wants coffee, soda, alcohol."

"The last one. Lots of it." Clive has barely spoken since the attack. He's just stood in a corner, waiting for us to finish work, before driving in three separate cars. I can't blame him for not wanting to be alone with me right now. 

"This will make more sense if you're sober, Detective."

"More sense? She's a fucking zombie. I watched her eat a brain, a human brain- Oh my God, you're not the only one, are you? Major was ranting about human brains and I thought he was going nuts, because come on, who goes around carrying human brains. It's absurd. It should be absurd, but you're a zombie."

I hand him a glass of whiskey. He takes it and empties it in one go, before handing it back to me. I don't ask if he wants more. I refill it and hand him to him. This time, he just holds it. "I'm not the only one. Lowell was one, too. Blaine killed him. Blaine is the one who's behind the homicides of those teenagers Major was looking into."

"We found the remains at-"

"Liv thinks that someone inside your department is helping Blaine and that's why the remains were added to the girls'. If you think about it, the recovery never made any sense. That couple only abducted girls." Thankfully, Ravi can stay calm, because I can't. I could eat the dullest brain and I still wouldn't be calm when it comes to Blaine. 

"He killed Lowell," I repeat, because that seems like the most important thing at the moment.

Clive looks up at me. It's the first time that he's looked at me since we left the morgue. "We'll catch him."

"How? And even if we can find out whoever is protecting him inside the force, how are we going to explain to a jury that he kills homeless kids to steal their brains to keep afloat his catering business, which involves providing food to zombies he makes?" I don't bother hiding the sarcasm in my voice.

"We don't have to," Clive answers, and I can see that he's already thinking like a cop, looking for the best way to nail his perp. "We have to pin the murders on him. The reason doesn't matter. If we can get enough forensic evidence linking the murders to him, then he's just another fucked up serial killer who gets his rocks off by killing young people."

"You still have the problem of containment," Ravi said. "He can't stay in a jail. He'll go hungry and when he does, he will start infecting guards and inmates. Before they even figure out what's happening, he could have the entire prison contaminated or eaten."

"We have to kill him." I'm more convinced than ever that it's the only way. Blaise doesn't deserve mercy.

"Wow, I'm a detective. You can't say these things, because I solve murders; I don't commit them," Clive answers.

"There is no other choice. He can't go to jail. We can't rely on the department to arrest him or even stop him-"

Clive gets up and buttons his jacket. "Doctor, could you leave us alone? Liv and I need to talk."

Ravi looks between us. I'm not sure if he's scared for me or Clive. "You're okay? No zombie tendencies, no tantrum."

I smile despite the situation. "I'm not going to attack him."

"Oh good, because it would have been really hard to explain why you had a dead cop in your house," he deadpans. "I'll see you tomorrow. Both of you," he adds, as if still making sure that neither one will hurt the other.

Clive doesn't watch him go, but as soon as the door is closed, he speaks up. "You're not going to kill anyone. You will explain everything to me, top to bottom. I need to know what I'm facing, before we make a plan of action that doesn't include murder. Now, sit down and start from the beginning."

I do as he says and he lets me talk for a while, but he is a detective and soon the questions start, asking about details that hadn't occurred to me, things like who cooks these meals, where do they do the butchering, things that would lead to the arrest of a killer, things that I hadn't even thought to ask Lowell.

"We can't kill him," he says when I'm done. "Nah, before you say anything, killing him leaves a full operation in place. If we bust that, then we have lots of zombies with no access to brains. No, we need to figure out the members of his operation as well as all the people he's turned. We need to find the mole in the department and use it to our advantage. We also need to make sure that he doesn't turn anyone else. When we take him and his gang down, we need to be ready to let everyone know that there will be no more killing."

"And we're going to do all of this? Me, you and Ravi?" Yeah, I don't even bother to hide the incredulity from my voice.

"And Major. We have to tell him. He's going to get himself killed otherwise."

I groan in response. I broke off our engagement, because I wanted to keep him away from this world, but he's still neck-deep in it and if I don't do something, he will die.

"It sucks, I know," Clive says.

"And not in the fun, brain-eating way."

He looks at me, very unimpressed by my attempt at joking.

"Too soon?" I ask with what I hope is a remorseful face.

"You tried to eat me less than an hour ago, what do you think?"

I roll my eyes. "I wasn't going to eat you… just your brain," I add with a tiny smile.

He finally cracks a smile himself. "Zombies. God-" He shakes his head and leans back against the back of the couch. I rest my head against his shoulder. We don't speak for a while. "We'll get him," he says softly. "Maybe not the way you want, but we'll stop him. And we'll do it together."

I'm not sure I believe him, but I nod. "Yeah, okay. The Zombie team to the rescue."

He huffs. "We're not calling us that." 

"We have to call ourselves something," I insist.

"Not that." He waits for a moment. "Whatever it is, it won't suck. We'll do what we have to."

There's a conviction in his voice that I've come to know during the last months. He means it and it makes me feel better.

It started out as a simple lunch, and as I result, I outed myself to Clive. I was getting ready to tell Major about zombies and we were preparing for a war against Blaine and his people. It should have been simple, but I shouldn't have known better. The truth, though, is that I don't mind. I have one more friend in my corner and right now, I feel like we might just be strong enough to take Blaine down.

Maybe.

But tomorrow will be another day and another brain, and together we'll face whatever it'll come.


End file.
